Nope, I haven't fallen off the planet. I've been updating other blogs, and working on HC, and doing a few other things to clear items off my to-do list. After staring at it for two or three weeks, I've finally decided to start working on making categories for this blog, since it's the largest I have. Major changes seem to occur here first; the other blogs sometimes get the same changes later. I'm not sure why I do it this way; maybe it's because, once the change occurs here, it feels official. It would probably be easier to implement changes on the other blogs first....but I prefer doing it this way.) I opened my tutorial and put the actual steps for creating categories on my to-do list for easy reference (with the tutorial still availabe for detailed help in another file). I've begun the process by going back to put tags on my old posts, so at least I've got a start. It's one of those times when a project just looks too huge and complicated to ever complete; cutting it into manageable steps has seemed to help, if only to get me moving on it.

I found out the other day that the CIRCUS is coming. Naturally, we're going to take Dylan. I can barely wait. I want to see his eyes the first time he sees an elephant and the clowns. This is a rite of childhood that no one ever outgrows.

For the past few days, I've been assisting Doug with The Handicapped Computerist. I've tweaked the template and helped with editing. I must say, it's a bit different than working on my own blogs; the sense of responsibility is different, if something doesn't work right. Once again Blogger Forum has been an invaluable resource. If you haven't yet checked out HC, please pop over and have a look, and leave a comment or e mail us with questions.

This week has been crazy, and I have to go to work in a few minutes, so I'll post more later.

Jay was on his way to pick me up from work today. As he was about to pull the car out of our parking space at home, a woman driving a truck was across the parking lot, and pulled her vehicle out without checking behind her for other vehicles. The truck bumped into our car, denting the fender. Thank goodness she's insured. We have insurance, so we're going to be ok, but it was stupid. Jay is irate, but unhurt. Just about the last thing I needed.

Jay filed a police report as soon as we got home; he asked for a Spanish-speaking officer, because the woman driver is Hispanic, and we didn't want to risk a breakdown in communication if she decided she'd forgotten all her English. He also spoke with the apartment management, and was told the resident in the apartment she was visiting would be issued a written warning.

Her insurance will pay for all of the necessary repairs, plus a rental car for us to use until ours is fixed.

Part of the fun of blogging, for me, is sharing. I have shared tips and information with other bloggers, and have gotten assistance from some, as well. A case in point is my favicon. I got this tip from Kate's tutorial, and was able to impliment it with an assist from Blogger Forum and D-Drive (which is fast becoming indispensable).

THe Favicon is simple to use, and it is an attractive way to help your blog or website stand out in a list of bookmarks or tabs full of those little blue 'e's that Microsoft is so fond of putting on links. You can also use the same Favicon on more than one site, as I have done for some of my blogs. This helps increase recognition on the part of readers.

Kate has consistently been a source of inspiration; Blogger Forum members have been patient helping me sort out all kinds of issues, and D-Drive is an incredible resource for scripts and other assistance.

It's been quite a week. I've begun keeping a to-do list on my desktop to help me make the most of the time I have to tinker with the computer, my blogs and other projects on weekends. It's satisfying to be able to tick the old items off and yes, even add new ones. This is something I usually do a few minutes per day throughout the week, with a final recap on Friday to ensure that anything I've overlooked gets included. Since I've always been fairly good at staying organized, this in not a difficult routine.

There are as many ways to get organized as there are people who like to be (or need to be) organized. There are also many varied software packages you can download and purchase to help with this; the key is to find one you are comfortable with...then use it consistently. Some people make elaborate lists but never look at them to ensure the items on the list are completed and removed. What's the point of making the list in the first place?

In college, particularly as an undergrad (and like most students I've ever met!) I had more demands on my time and resources than a day could contain: Classes, assignments, volunteer work, family commitments...Life. So, getting organized was a survival tactic.

I used a paper day planner that I carried everywhere. Now, guess what?, I still have many demands on my time...but now, I'm in the habit of writing things daown, and following up to ensure that my lists are completed. I use a couple of software programs to help with this, but one of the most basic and easiest to use is just a plain text editor (notepad, Wordpad, or any flavor you like.) It's no problem to keep a simple notepad document on my desktop for keeping track of my to-do's, and...it costs nothing. That's my favorite price.

I certainly have no shortage of projects, and staying on top of them this way helps me feel as though I've actually accomplished things at the end of my "free" time to work on them.

It had to happen. I just took my own advice: I created a Firefox profile specifically set up for blogging. It should be much simpler to manage blogs with the new profile, because I've eliminated the clutter from my Bookmarks Toolbar. When I imported the bookmarks, I used the Bookmark Manager to eliminate all of my bookmarks except for those directly involved in blogging and blogs.

I have the template up, and pictures of Dylan are posted. Now, I just have a few score more photos to upload. I'm not hosting these on Blogger because there are so many. It feels wonderful to have launched this project; it's one I've wanted to do for a long time.

I was speaking with a friend of mine yesterday and happened to mention my blogging. He has decided to do a blog also, and it's going to be full of good information. Drop by to visit Doug if you have a chance. He is very knowledgeable about many facets of computing, and has a wonderful sense of humor as well.

On a sadder note, James Doohan has passed on. I heard that, following cremation, his remains will be taken into space and left there. If this is true, it seems fitting. Gentle journey, Mr. Scott. You will be remembered.

A wonderful online, octogenarian friend of mine named Flo posted this list and gave me permission to borrow it. Thanks, Flo!

Engineers' Most Interesting Findings
Conversion Factors for your Digestion:

1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi

2. 2000 pounds of Chinese Soup = Won ton

3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope

4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond

5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram

6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong

7. 365.25 days of drinking low calorie beer = 1 Lite year

8. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling

9. Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon

10. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz

11. Basic unit of laryngitis - 1 hoarsepower

12. Shortest distance between two jokes - a straight line

13. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake

14. 1 million microphones = 1 megaphone

15. 1 million bicycles = 1 megacycle

16. 365 days = 1 unicycle

17. 2000 mockingbirds = two kilomockingbirds

18. 10 cards = 1 decacard

19. 52 cards = 1 deckacard

20. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton

21. 1000 grams of wet socks = 1 literhosen

22. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche

23. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin

24. 10 rations = 1 decaration

25. 100 rations = 1 C-Ration

26. 2 monograms = 1 diagram

27. 8 nickels = 2 paradigms

28. 5 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 I.V. League

As you can see, my bit of tweaking was highly successful! What I did was to use Compactible Headers Script from Dynamic Drive to condense my sidebar content into clickable headings. Most everything that was in the sidebars before is still present; it's just tucked out of the way. I love the feeling of having elbow room. Now, I just need to resolve an issue with my G Mail Button, and I'll be in clover.

Yeah, I know...so what else is new??? I will be working on my sidebar content for the next day or two...but the results will be worth it. Please bear with me, and don't forget to wear a hard hat to protect yourself from falling links! I'll post more about this tweak when I'm finished.

It's official. Work on my Firefox blog is underway. Rather than having a mishmash of tips and all sorts of information with no real design behind it as was true with my first effort, I decided to do what I did in college when I was faced with any major assignment: Make a plan, an outline. That single decision has already begun to bear fruit. I opened my trusty NoteTab Pro, and made a list. Just a list of what I wanted to include in the sidebars, and in what order the items would appear. I put the list away when I had finished that piece. I took it out again later, and decided as long as I now had my sidebar planned, I could just code a few of the links in. Then I listed my favorite extensions. Ooops. Wouldn't you know, the list of extensions became longer...and longer. To help keep things cleaner and save space in the sidebar, I decided I needed to detour to find a way to make a drop down menu for the list. I was able to do that on my own, much to my surprise, thanks to this site that helped me by autogenerating the code. I also listed topics I want to explore. It's going to be a treat to work on this project. Just as I found it to be true in college that with a thorough outline, a major paper almost wrote itself, so will the lists I have made help me with this new Firefox project.

All of this was on my to do list for this weekend, with a few other items I didn't get to, but they will carry over to next weekend or whenever I have the time and energy to tackle them.

One reason I didn't get as much done as I'd planned is that Dylan came to spend the night. Lauren had to go to work, and his usual caregiver had an emergency and needed to be at a hosopital. Dylan just never seems to stop moving; he makes me tired just watching him. He's learned to climb on chairs...and he's also learned to push chairs around to get to places that are higher than he can reach...so we have to watch him closely so that he doesn't fall and get hurt. becaise this baby a0 is completely fearless, and b) he doesn't know his own strength. Jay's begun calling him Bamm-Bamm! Little dynamo nearly broke my nose. I was holding him, and he acted like he wanted to kiss my cheek, then he butted his head straight into the bridge of my nose, twice in rapid succession. I saw stars, and he didn't even have a pink mark on his head. A few minutess later, he very carefully pushed a dining room chair with tubular steel legs) toward me, hitting my left leg just below the knee hard enough to leave a bruise. I may not survive his toddlerhood. He is such a sweetheart...but I've already decided that next weekend, barring some kind of disaster, I'm going to let his mother play with him for a while. Than I can pass out in peace. (Don't mind me; I got up way to early this morning and I'm grumpy.)

My inbox is sometimes a cache of unexpected artistry:

That's right....another new blog. I've been waffling around since June 19 when my "old" blogs had a hiccup (via a problem with ftp publishing gone haywire) as to whether or not I would resurrect my Firefox Tips blog. I have finally decided that I do want to recreate the blog, if only to have all of my favorite resources in one central location. This time around, the title of the blog is going to be different, and I actually have a plan about what I'm going to include and how the layout will be. That is way more organized than it was the first time around. If you have ever had the experience of losing data, grinding your teeth to powder and screeching in frustration, then eventually rebuilding your work to have it actually turn out better than the original was, you can appreciate how I feel about my new Firefox blog.

Today was mildly crazy any way you cut it. Yesterday, we had an electrical storm that knocked out our power twice within an hour and a half. When the power came back up, our phone was acting decidedly weird. At first, I could call out, then we began getting a fast busy signal...then...nothing. (I should mention, it's digital service from the cable company, part of our package deal.) The modem worked enough to allow me to have internet access, and the television never went phhhdddttttt, surprisingly enough. Jay went to borrow a phone to call the repair techs. They told us they would be out sometime today...and finally the techician arrived at around 5 PM, worked on it for about 45 minutes (he eventually had to install a new modem), and finally got it working again.

I ended up being offline during my work shift today for the same time that the technician was here, so I had to work an hour later to make up the time. It was worth that just to have the phone back to normal. I was fine for a while, but toward the end, I began feeling isolated...claustrophobic almost. Not fun, and not the way I want to spend my weekend.

We've decided to stay with the cable package for six months, just to see if all the glitches can get ironed out (We had to have the DVR replaced three times because there was ultimately a problem somewhere in the lines outside. And I hardly consider Mother Nature's temper tantrum to be the cable company's fault.)

No wonder I'm exhausted. TGIF, for sure.

Fair warning: This post is lengthy and includes links to other sites and resources, but kick your shoes off, relax, and read on anyway. Some of this will be old news, but I wanted to take time to write it down, in case someone new to blogging is wondering, "where on eatth do I even begin with blogging," and "why would I want to blog; what's in it for me?" Note: Blogger is not the most advanced Blogging platform there is, and it lacks some amenities, but hey, the price (free!) is certainly right, and it's an excellent (relatively safe and painless) place to learn.

Blogging began for me last summer as a novelty after I found a link to Blogger on Ask-it-Here, a Q&A website I frequented and still visit when I have time. I knew a little html, and nothing about template editing of any sort. I was green as Ireland's grass on Saint Patrick's Day. I didn't even know the right questions to ask, or who to ask them of. I posted hit or miss for a long time, using a standard-issue Blogger template that I wasn't too fond of...and I began building a list of blogs I read by visiting blogs and blog linking sites. The first blog I read (because of a link I found in Blogger's Blogs of Note one day) was Prison Pete, on Blogger. I noted with some interest the contents of his blog's sidebar, and eventually began wondering how I could add personal touches to my own blog...but before I got to that point, I almost gave up on the entire blog. Yawn. Borrring.

Then, in April, through a link in the Langa List, an online computing newsletter, I found Kate. (I've linked to her a few times already). She and I began to exchange e mails as I asked how she got her blog to look the way it does, and how she implemented some of its features. She was and is more than patient, and answered my questions so that I could understand. She was the one who helped me take my first tentative ("Oh, what if I break something? This is so scary!) steps toward editing my template. Thank goodness. All that code was hard to read and difficult to understand. Now I walk through it a lot more briskly; I've learned that it may bite when it doesn't work as expected, but it doesn't kill. I put code for my links in the wrong places often, and she would help me get it straigntened out. One fine day, I discovered that I could post my own links that actually worked, miracle of miracles. That did it; I was hooked. I started editing my template on a regular basis, tweaking, adjusting, goofing around. It was (and is) fun; I never expected that.

I learned to save a backup of my template and even my individual posts, by copying the template code and post entries and saving the data in text files, which has proven not only a wise thing to do, but has meant the very preservation of my blog. Notetab Pro, my text editor of choice has been in constant use as well, for viewing source code, making notes and keeping me at least minimally organized. My list of bookmarks for blogging, resources and information, and of blogs themselves (not to mention website design) began as one or two links...then one or two folders, then several folders...and finally just grew in seemingly geometric progression. I store my bookmarks online, because I could never replace them all if something happened to them. Besides, every serious computer user eventually learns to backup; data loss is no fun.

Somewhere along the way, in early May, I found Blogger Forum. The site is an absolute gold mine of help, support, information and other resources for bloggers, be they total neophytes or advanced users; they don't mind ignorance-based questions I'd be embarrassed to ask in some other places. I got a lot of help from the Forum, and learn from it all the time. Every time I want to undertake a new project associated with blog tweaking, my first resource of choice is Blogger Forum; more often than not, it's because of something I've read there that I decide to test the water for adding new features in the first place And it was on Blogger Forum that I found my current template. The three column layout has been incredibly useful, and the high-contrast is easy on my eyes.

Adding My own links soon got to be "yesterday's project." I figured out how to add my booklist by writing the links code into my template, and made them clickable so they could be searched via Amazon; this was another of Kate's suggestions. I added my G-Mail button next, along with my guestbook code. Then came Blogroller, which meant I needed to sign up with that site for a free account. (If it isn't free, I don't do it, at least for now.) I found some useful Blogger hacks, and added those, to add drop down lists for my archives and for my recent posts. The recent posts drop down is not essential, since only ten of those display...but I do like the look of the two drop down lists together, so they will stay. In my quest for a new and better template, I did find a new icon to replace the default "powered by Blogger" one that since the default was unappealing. Commmenting by Haloscan (another free accout sign on). W.Bloggar came along just in time to keep me from feeling totally chained to my browser for posting and editing. By that point, I'd become an avid blogger. A day is hardly complete without posting. I even decided to create other blogs, for different areas of interest (cooking, inspirational posts, and Firefox tips -- the latter of which is yet to be reestablished following a snafu in June. Somewhere down the road, I have plans for a photoblog, which has been made easier since the addition of Blogger Images; no more Hello/Picassa/online storage of photos necessary, thank goodness.) Then I even decided to go looking for a free webhost, whereupon I found f2o. that led to my posting the beginnings of my personal homepage on the internet. That's a whole different adventure, but it dovetails into blogging because blogging was where I began to notice the possibilities.

Along the way, I was still reading posts and getting ideas from Blogger Forum, and even from other blogs, some of which I considered and discarded, others of which I shelved for later consideration. Some of these blogs contain excellent tutorials for things that catch my interest. Those get added to my blogroll in half a heartbeat. I've even written a couple of tutorials myself, mostly as "how-to" reminders to myself, but also to help others have an easier and more enjoyable experience.

Just recently I found Greasemonkey, an extension for Firefox...and that opened up whole new possibilities via the use of userscripts; this extension had come to my attention in the past, but seemed over my head, then it just clicked in my mind as to how to use it.

My latest quest is to add categories to my blog; this is going to take some work, since Blogger does not support categories. But yes, indeed it can be done. There doesn't seem to be an end in sight any time soon. I love the creativity of blogging, I love watching it come together and having the coding work (and even when it doesn't, it's another learning experience.) This blog (and the process of creating, maintaining, and improving it) is a major source of gratification, probably because as a person with a congenital dual disability, outlets for expression of creativity are limited. This is one that I can control and manage on my level, on my terms, and doing so does not require the ability to run, jump or even that I have perfect vision, which I've never had, and barring a miracle never will have; my vision has been described by one professional as "usable," and eye surgeries have helped keep me from complete blindness.) This blog (and my others, plus my webpage) are all works in progress...but half the fun is in the journey, and I'm in no hurry. I like the scenery on the trip, and I like the people on the train. Many of them are far advanced in comparison to where I am...but they do not mind lending a helping hand...and I know there are people now where I used to be, wondering about blogs and blogging. This, then, is part of the helping hand I can extend to those who need it. I'm no expert. I just share what I learn.

In my never ending quest to learn and add new and useful features to my blog, I'm working on making categories, using Delicious tags and then adding Technorati tags. Stay tuned...this promises to be interesting. Tutorial to follow upon completion of phase 1 (Delicious)

An online friend of mine has a web forum for questions, answers, give and take, and general information called Brainformation.com. I've had a button link on this blog for the forum in the past. Now, he and his coding pals have created a "lite" version of BF. When I checked it out, I was most pleased with what I saw. He offered to send me some code so I could include it on any website I wanted, and I jumped at the offer. We've exchanged several e mails getting the code tweaked just right so that when I put it into my template it would fit nicely with the rest of my template and work correctly. I'm happy to say...it is now ensconced quite happily in my right sidebar below the counter. Initially, the code my friend sent me linked to the original, "classic" BF forum, not the "lite" version, which I really do like. When I noticed that, I emailed him about it...then, I got thinking. I obtained the correct URL for BF lite, then just exchanged that information for the link he originally sent me in the title section of his code, which opened the classic version. (Ir makes sense if you read that carefully.) In other words, I traded the URL for BF lite for the original URL in his code....and it WORKS!!! It is so gratifying to be able to sort out this kind of an issue on my own, and I never could have done it just a couple of months ago. Evidently, all my tweaking of template coding is paying off!!!

I've removed some links from the left sidebar, and added a few to the right sidebar. The deletions are in keeping with my plan to periodically update the links I post; the additions are relatred to my post from July 7, "...make your clicks count." Since many people are not using Firefox, the extension I wrote about in that post is less than useful, so I decided to post the lnks for the charity sites. They may open in a single window, with tabs for each site. That's how it works for me. If you find a dead link, please let me know so I can fix it or remove it. And, please take a moment to click those links daily. It's a free way to help some great causes.

a couple of chuckles from my e mail:

This is a little bizarre...

If you're not familiar with the work of Steven Wright, he's the famous erudite scientist who once said: "I woke up one morning and all of my stuff had been stolen...and replaced by exact duplicates." His mind sees things differently than we do, to our amusement. Here are some of his gems:

1. I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

2. Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back.

3. Half the people you know are below average.

4. 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

5. 42.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

6. A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.

7. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

8. If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

9. All those who believe in psychokinesis, raise my hand.

10. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

11. I almost had a psychic girlfriend, but she left me before we met.

12. OK, so what's the speed of dark?

13. How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?

14. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

15. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

16. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

17. Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.

18. Hard work pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.

19. I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

20. If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

21. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

22. What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

23. My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."

24. Why do psycics have to ask you for your name?

25. If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

26. A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.

27. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need
it.
28. The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.

29. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

30. The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

31. The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.

32. The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.

33. Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don't have film.

We took the time today to finally get the majority of Dylan's baby pictures scanned in to the computer, and they are all safely tucked into a single folder. I've contacted his mom for more pictures that I will scan in, then return to her. I'm going to use these photos to make a photo blog. It really shouldn't take too long. and the next set to scan will likely not be as large as this set was. Now we can do them a roll at a time, when we have them developed. I'm going to see about getting a new digital camera at some point, then we won't need developing.

Speaking of Dylan...he was here for the day yesterday. We took him to the playground after breakfast before it got too hot. He likes the slide and swing...and he enjoyed hearing gravel crunch under his shoes, but didn't care for it when he tried to taste it. He seemed to hesitate walking on plank boards at the entrance to the playground, but felt much more secure once he was on the sidewalk because it didn't have spaces in it like the plank boards do. We stayed about 20 minutes, then it was home for a cool drink and cooling off. He likes lemonade, and already knows how to sip from a straw. He also enjoys moving furniture...he can push the dining room chairs anywhere. He pushed a chair up against the door of the office and almost took a poster off the door before we told him no. He pulled Duchess and Darla's carriers out from under the table and climbed on them to reach things on a table...then he put the carriers back as he found them when he was done, without being prompted. He can climb into his high chair and sit down to be buckled in...not that the buckle does much good. He really is quite a little guy. Soon he will be old enough so that I can teach him to cook and bake.

I tried watching a movie last night, but ended up going to sleep in the middle of it. Finally just gave up and went to bed. I slept nearly twelve hours. I don't like being that exhausted.

I did a complete delete and reinstall of Firefox yesterday, just to keep things fresh. One or two of my profiles weren't working as well as I wanted them, so doing the clean install was a big help. Now I'm good for the next six to eight months or more.

A member of our family is going to Afghanistan within a few days; he's to be there for 45 days. We have received a service flag and it is hanging in our window for the duration. God willing, he will come home safely.

A picture really is worth 1,000 words:

I use Firefox. I'm in the process of adding extensions to a new profile, and found Hungersitefox. That's a mouthful, but it's an extension I just added. It puts a link in the status bar each day. When you double-click the link, it opens with the Hunger Site, Breast Cancer, Literacy, Rainforest, and animal help sites, where a single click helps fund each of these charities. This is definitely something I will make a part of my daily browsing routine. You can find the extension on the Mozilla Update site, or at on this page, where there is also a bookmarklet version available.

I've just found Bloglinker! This is going to be cool. Go check it out and see what you think. I found this tool via a link in Blog Weekly.

Our July 4 was relatively quiet. We were thinking about going out to watch the local symphony and fireworks display, but at 4:30 PM, we got a half-frantic phone call from Lauren, asking if we could come get Dylan and keep him overnight; she had less than an hour before she had to be at work, and his usual sitter was unable to care for him. Of course we said yes, and off we went. We brought him home, fed him dinner (mashed potato, corn, and a tiny bit of brisket cut into Dylan sized slivers. The mashed potato and corn were a hit, but the brisket ended up on the floor. His breakfast of fruit and cereal and cinnamon toast fared some better, although the first few bites of the toast also ended up on the floor.) After dinner we went to visit Aunt Doris. She is retiring after 20 years at her job. (I give it at most two weeks before she is finding something new to do. She can't be idle any more than my mother [her sister] can; my mother has retired so many times, no one believes it any more.)

We stayed about an hour, then went to visit a friend across town. She was getting ready to leave for a trip, and had suitcases and various piles of items awaiting packing strewn everywhere. Again, we only stayed about an hour, then it was home. On the way, we saw some pretty fireworks that citizens were setting off, but we couldn't stop to watch since there was nowhere to pull over on the interstate. Dylan seemed more interested in the noise of firecrackers and fireworks than scared of them; I told him that it was America's birthday and everyone just wanted to say, "Happy birthday". By the time we arrived home, Dylan was out for the count. He roused just enough to look around when we took him out of the car, but put his head on my shoulder and went back to sleep almost at once. We put him to bed, and he slept until almost 7 AM yesterday morning.

Jay has given him a nickname: a Category 6 Texas tornado. He is always busy, but he is not hyperactive. Jay asked how I know he's not hyperactive. By the time you've reared two normally active kids to adulthood as I have, you get a sense of what "normal" is. So, no, Dylan is not hyperactive. He's just a busy little guy. He's not only walking now, he's running. By the time his mother picked him up at 10 AM, the living room was a mess (it's been worse), and we were both worn out. I spent much of the day in bed, and still went to bed as early as I could justify. I didn't even use the computer as much as I normally do. I think I was beginning to get sick...I've not been that tired in a long time, and I can't put it all down to Dylan being here; we just closed off areas that he's not allowed in, and turned him loose in the living room; we then had to supervise him in a single area rather than in the entire apartment. When his mother called, Dylan said hi to her on the phone, then got impatient for her arrival; he butted his head on the couch (it's well padded), and was saying "bye bye, bye bye". She said he's recently begun doing this; she calls it a temper tantrum, but it didn't seem like much of a tantrum to me. When she arrived, Jay unlocked the door, then stood to the side of the door and allowed Dylan to open it. (Now we know he can open the door, but it's kept locked at all times when he's here, so we don't worry about him going outside without one of us.)

I ended up getting up at 2:30 AM this morning with a horrible backache and other ills I won't go into here. I've seen wrung out dishrags with more energy than I have. I told Jay last night maybe he ought to just call a mortician and be done with it. That's not usual, but nothing else about yesterday was usual either.

we needed a couple of cables so that we could put one of our DVR-recorded movies on VHS. Jay thought we had some, but couldn't find them, and since the DVR is being exchanged on Tuesday due to a malfunction, we needed to get the movie transferred before then. So, it was off to Radio Shack. We did get the cables, along with a new phone cord plus a new, very compact cordless telephone and headset for my desk. I've already set up the "bells and whistles" and I think I'm going to love it. I just have to wait for the battery pack to fully charge. It will be good to go by the time I'm off work tomorrow.

The only time I've ever had a cordless phone previously was in the mid-90's or so. That one was huge, by comparison, and felt like a brick in my hand. It had to be carried in a holster type holder that reminded me for all the world of a gunbelt. No more. this new one is light as a feather and even the base takes up only about as much space on my desktop as my favorite hot chocolate mug. The headset allows for hands-free use, handy for when I'm working. I also saw a couple items I've put on my Christmas wishlist.

We went shopping today after we ran some errands and paid some bills. My husband had a dollar bill that he got in change, and the bill had "Where's George? stamped on it. Naturally, I had to check it out. The site tracks paper currency (US and Canadian) by the series and serial numbers. Only one of the bills I entered had already started being tracked...but it is kind of fun seeing how far money can travel. Now, I just wish it would s-t-r-e-t-c-h a little further.

July 1 kind of crept up on me out of nowhere. There's all the usual stuff to do: budgeting, paying bills, shopping lists...and this time it's actually fun. Jay's new job and the extra money sure helps take some of the stress out of the mix. Good thing, since we have car payments and extra insurance to pay for. We took delivery of a 2004 Dodge Stratus SE two weeks ago! We got a snail mail "offer" that I nearly threw in the trash that said I was preapproved for money for a new car. It was no joke! Our old car was 13 years old, and it was a matter of time before repair bills would be problematic. I sold that car to Lauren, who is thrilled to have it. (She already had her first flat, and was laughing about it since she had the car for just two days when it happened.) She's being very responsible about making her payments. I didn't demand a lot of money for the car, but I do want her to have some financial obligation for it. Our insurance is actually very reasonable, for full coverage, and the premium will go down in September, although I don't know how much it will decrease.

I still think we got a huge break with the cable package (digital cable with DVR, cable phone and internet access). The DVR is neat, because I can watch television when I have time for it, and still not miss anything. I taped Sybil with Joanne Woodward and Sally Field, from the book by Flora Reta Schreiber. I read the book in college, and it gave me nightmares for days, and shook me up in a major way...and now I work with child abuse treatment/prevention.